A Rational Defense of HopeyChange... and a Rebuttal, of Sorts

Blog-Bud Doc put up a thoughtful post earlier this week entitled “Why I’m Leaning Toward Obama.” His very first line is this:

“Leaning, mind you. Much can change in the next few weeks.”

And then Doc launches into a well-reasoned explanation for his leanings, which basically involve contrasting Senator McCain’s character with that of Senator Obama’s. And Doc obviously finds flaws with Senator McCain, or rather with Senator McCain’s campaign, and to a much greater extent, some of Senator McCain’s idiot supporters… the sort of people who send out idiotic rants like this in the hope of swaying opinion.

(Short parenthetical digression: people who send out videos like the one at the link aren’t so much McCain supporters as they are Obama haters… and there are a LOT of haters out there, sad to say. I’ve noticed there’s a tremendous amount of bad information — which is to say info that is factually inaccurate or outright lies, as in the “Obama is a Muslim” meme — being circulated via e-mail, and I’ve received way too much of it. But the point is… the “hate” stuff is out there and it’s having a NEGATIVE effect on some of the undecideds.)

This, I suppose, plays into my point that McCain is running a very inept campaign. I’ve not articulated that point in a main blog-post here at EIP, but I’ve left comments to that effect in my friends’ blogs when the subject comes up. One such comment:

I'm of the opinion that the McCain campaign has been... to date... one of the most inept, tone-deaf, and incompetent presidential campaigns... ever. One expects this sort of thing from the Dems (witness: Dukakis and Kerry), but from the GOP? McCain's descent into faux populism ("Greed and corruption on Wall Street!") turns my stomach, and the "handling" of Palin has simply been a disaster... of incredible and potentially devastating proportions.

I'm thinking it's too late to save it, but I HOPE to God I'm wrong.

So. Back to Doc. If I’m reading him correctly, Doc believes Obama has run a more principled campaign while McCain has opted for traditional mud-slinging. Or… McCain is doing the classic “whatever it takes” maneuver so common to our politicians (especially when they fall behind), thereby sacrificing his principles. Doc does have a point with the direction he’s taking here, and that point is “character matters,” where the tone of a campaign is concerned. This is something of an explanation as to why otherwise rational people might choose to vote for The One. I’m sensing there’s a lot of disgust over the state of our political process, but I’m of the opinion that The One is most certainly NOT the answer. But to give the Devil his due, Obama has played this discontent like a freakin’ Stradivarius. And McCain has not.

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over… and The Fat Lady ain’t gonna sing until the wee small hours of November 5^th. Doc, in closing to this particular post, makes the point that American politics has (seemingly) always been about choosing the lesser of two evils. I’ll agree with that. You have to go back to Reagan to find an example of someone worth voting for, rather than someone to vote against. But… that said, McCain is the lesser of two evils in this election cycle, which is obviously one of the more important elections of our time. The One is just be SO wrong and SO detrimental to the success and prosperity of America it’s scary.

Your mileage may vary. But I hope not.

(Image from NY Magazine)